Has Eddie (finally) seen the light about Brown? But no point in having him on the bench as he only covers 15.
Backrow still isn't right, but Simmonds mind do really well in the last 20 minutes against France.

A lot to like about the bench- mobile front row, Simmonds & Joseph - could be very dangerous finishers if weather permits.

The key question is at 9 - nothing wrong with Wigglesworth for a must win game - but he's not a "tempo lifter" as a finisher. Perhaps should be the starter with care to wreak havoc from the bench as against Australia?

There is another problem with Lawes on the blind and no 2nd row cover on the bench. What happens if things are not working in the back-row (a problem area for England and with a half fit number 8 as well) and EJ wants to sub Lawes at half time? Who is left to cover 2nd row? Much better to have started Lawes on the bench and put a proper back-row option on the from the start.

Just cannot see why Brown is dropped and Ford retained. Yes Brown has a shocker against the Scots but he did get involved and was physical, what did Ford do apart from run on and give people hospital passes. If Nowell was fit, Brown probably would not be in the 23. I am a fan of Anthony at 15 but feel he will be truly tested if it is wet as predicted and his defence needs to be stronger. Can see Brown coming on at 15 and AW to the wing for Daly who has not played much. Also I haven't been impressed with May as his defence is suspect

I feel JJ is a little unlucky as he has not been put into space but has defended really well. Suppose Teo there to help counter Bastereau but personally I would have started JJ at 13 with Slade inside him and Farrell at fly half. Slade is a classy footballer and can both tackle, distribute and can kick well from hand and ground. Also useful to have right and left foot kickers in a team, including Daly. As much as we need to defend, JJ and Slade offer more attacking options and threat IMO.

When Underhill dropped out, I don't think Eddie had much choice in the back row and had to play Lawes who has had his moments and certainly helps counter the very big powerful French pack.

If England fall behind on the scoreboard I think they will lose and it is imperative we start well and score early on. The French with the return of their naughty boys will be a handful and carry many threats especially on the wings. England will probably want to keep it tight and close to the pack and the French will go wide often and as soon as they can.

Could be a good one to watch but personally feel France will sneak it by under 10.

I don't really understand why he hasn't started Hasekll at 7. Eddie's greatest achievement to date - by a margin - was the 3-0 away to Australia, where Haskell was a huge success. Playing 3 second-rows is just a bit antediluvian to me.

The longer Eddie goes on, the more England are starting to resemble the Geoff Cooke era team, which won successive Grand Slams and got to a World Cup final, but ultimately failed because they'd set their ceiling a bit too low.

What happens if we lose the next two games? A solid win against France and a narrow loss against Ireland could just about be accepted by some, but three losses back-to-back and things are not so good for the WC. England must win on Saturday.

One thought about Farrell as captain, if England get stuck in a rut as they did v Scotland with slow ball he can make a strong case on the pitch to sort that out. His view of things in the back line watching the defense form up ahead of him would be different to Hartley's who might have his head shoved somewhere with no daylight.

OptimistI don't really understand why he hasn't started Haskell at 7. Eddie's greatest achievement to date - by a margin - was the 3-0 away to Australia, where Haskell was a huge success. Playing 3 second-rows is just a bit antediluvian to me.

Antediluvian is now officially my word of the week. Well done Optimist.

Seriously, why do you keep singling him out? You at least accept Brown was bad, Ford wasn't particularly. T'eo done nothing for me so far. There were a lot of fairly poor performances out there to chose from, as said, it wasn't the backs that lost the game. What would you do anyway? Stick Faz at 10, T'eo at 12 and keep JJ? So Ford for JJ, that's much of muchness in terms of form.

I knew our turn over stats, like Bath"s, were not good but didn't think we were worse than Italy. It is a vital part of both the modern and old game and shows the need for strong, fast back rows which to be fair the country lacks at present. Must say I wish young Polledri was going to opt for England as he looks a real find for Gloucester, playing as well if not better than his dad who, IIRR, played over 400 games for Bristol.

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